


And She Smiles

by orphan_account



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Misogyny, Non-Graphic Violence, Objectification, Resentment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:15:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21516655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The Rose Bride feels nothing but pain.
Relationships: Himemiya Anthy/Tenjou Utena
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	And She Smiles

**Author's Note:**

> Do not repost on another site.

The toll of bells. The flurry of petals blown skyward - but the sky is an illusion. The arena is an illusion. Is her victory an illusion, too?

No, Anthy decides. It couldn't be. That isn't part of Akio's plot.

Akio. The name makes bile creep up her throat, but she keeps her expression simple and soft. Best not to concern Utena. Her final trial was rapidly approaching with all of the won duels lately. 

But she has been through this cycle before. More than this time. For it is only Utena's third, and Anthy's... she has forgotten the amount of times she's played this game.

She is the Rose Bride, after all, and behind the soft petals and sweet scent, there are thorns.

Past duelists have not been so honorable - if one can consider Utena's need for a prince honorable. Most did not walk her back to the dorms with a smile, discussing anything besides their routine. Most used the bride for their purposes, only thinking about their needs. Their reward for a battle well fought. Anthy was only a means to an end, a sheath for their swords.

She could not show disgust - she went numb. She laid back. She played her part. After all, what did most of them want beside a submissive bride?

And Akio... her love for him - for Dios and his heroism and ideals - has drained like tepid water in a bathtub. He prefers her compliant, prone, and feminine. He prefers her with her hair down. She can hardly stomach it as she lays with her eyes open wide in the darkened planetarium.

She does not let Utena see her hair down until much later on, and even then, it is when they approach sleep, in that strange bed of theirs atop a tower of deception. How fitting, she thinks, even as Utena touches the curled ends looking thoughtful. How much like a fairy tale.

After all, all fairy tales were twisted in the beginning. Much like hers.

Anthy can still feel the agony of it, no matter how much she buries it. The mob. Dios, injured and close to death. Her defiance. Her eternal punishment.

Being impaled on thousands of swords, never ending, never dying. Only living to suffer.

Men and their various swords.

Every time she draws Dios' wrenched blade from her breast, she plays serene. Each pull is like being burned at the stake from the inside. She hates to admit it - what a surprise, hatred - but she enjoys when the tables turn and she can pull it from Utena's breast instead. She hopes it hurts Utena like the blades, like how Utena's smile stabs Anthy.

When the veil is lifted and Anthy embraces her from behind, she takes a blade into her hand. She smiles as it is buried inside, smiles even as Utena falls to the floor, submitting to the piercing ache.

She knows what Anthy has done. She knows what Anthy has done and gets to her feet, fights to get past her walls, reaches for her-

Anthy is no longer cold in the coffin, but it falls all the same. And there Utena remains, impaled with Anthy's baggage.

Soon after, she sets out to find her, leaving Akio and his schemes within Ohtori's walls. And when she does, she is smiling.


End file.
